No invitation not a sign of tiff: Venkaiah on TRS swearing-in

Statement issued in context of bandh call by TRS over transfer of 200 villages to residual Andhra

Union Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) not inviting them to the swearing-in ceremony of the first Telangana government on June 2 was not a determinant of how the relationship between the two governments is going to be.

“Inviting someone or not  is their prerogative. But that has got nothing to do with any confrontationist  approach,” Naidu said when he was reminded of his recent appeal to the TRS leadership not to adopt  confrontationist path in dealing with the Centre.

It may be recalled that TRS president and the chief minister-in-waiting K Chandrasekhara Rao had given a bandh call earlier this week against the Centre’s ordinance being issued to transfer over 200 Telangana villages to the residual Andhra Pradesh for the construction of Polavaram irrigation project. This came few days before the appointed day, June 2, when the formal division of the composite Andhra Pradesh comes into effect.

Reacting to the bandh the Naidu, who hails from Andhra Pradesh, advised the prospective leadership of the new Telangana state not to adopt confrontationist methods in the best interests of the new state.

While chief minister- in-waiting of the residual Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his swearing-in ceremony scheduled on June 8.

“We will help build basic infrastructure required for the state capital of residual Andhra Pradesh, but if you want us to create an another Hyderabad it would be way too ambitious. However, I can understand the fact that some thing over and above the basic city infrastructure needs to be done to attract the investments in the region,” he said.